asterisk users - Jan 2004 - POTS interfacing recommendation

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

Hello there,

I'm drawing up a scheme to manage our company calls and would like to 
implement it with Asterisk.  In order to get moving quickly I'd like some 
recommendations on what hardware to buy so I can start tinkering.  Initially 
we'd like to be able to support one line to accept incoming calls, and 
another one for forwarding such calls to mobiles or other external phone 
numbers.

My initial thought was that two voice-supporting modems will do this but I get 
the impression that the modem drivers in Asterisk will not behave as flexibly 
as I'd like, and/or that I'll need to get hold of very hard-to-get or 
overpriced modems.  Are either of these impressions true, or do people run 
such phone systems practically with a pair of modems?  If so, do I need 
specific modems and where do I get them? 

If voice modems will be hasslesome, I understand that Zaptel-based cards will 
give me the least problems but I'm not sure which would be the most suitable
to buy for our needs, how much to expect to pay and so on.  Also bonus points 
for pointing me at a friendly/knowledgeable UK supplier of such cards.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated: once I have some known-working 
hardware in place, I'm cocky enough to believe I can set the software up
with
enough head banging :)

cheers,

- -- 
Matthew Bloch                             Bytemark Hosting
                                  tel. +44 (0) 8707 455026
                        http://www.bytemark-hosting.co.uk/
          Dedicated Linux hosts from 15ukp ($26) per month
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.2.3 (GNU/Linux)

iD8DBQE/9/0zT2rVDg8aLXQRAhKhAKCC0JpZxjaRbUi/YUkmZNfgBUjaAQCbBGFN
TCdY0qP6wupYOFK1eteahdg=/Mr7
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

Check http://www.telappliant.com  for their VoIP Starter kits or Telephony
Cards sections.

Robert
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> Hash: SHA1
>
> Hello there,
>
> .....
> for pointing me at a friendly/knowledgeable UK supplier of such cards.
>
> Any advice would be greatly appreciated: once I have some known-working
> hardware in place, I'm cocky enough to believe I can set the software
up
> with
> enough head banging :)
>
> cheers,
>
> - --
> Matthew Bloch
Check http://www.telappliant.com  for their VoIP Starter kits or Telephony
Cards sections.  I don't have any experience with the X100 or voice cards
since my implementation is VoIP only (so far).

Robert

Matthew Bloch wrote:
> Hello there,
> 
> I'm drawing up a scheme to manage our company calls and would like to 
> implement it with Asterisk.  In order to get moving quickly I'd like
some
> recommendations on what hardware to buy so I can start tinkering. 
Initially
http://www.voip-info.org/wiki-Asterisk+hardware+recommendations
is a good place to start. You'll not find all the answers there, but some
recommendations.

I would really like to see other members of the community add your
configurations to
the Wiki. It's helpful for all newbies to see a number of different setups
for various
solutions. If you don't want to add it yourself, feel free to mail me a note
describing
your setup.

Regards,
/Olle